United Airlines is the largest airline operating within Houston Airport Systems, with well over 500 daily flights from Houston to more than 180 destinations around the world. United recently started construction on the new United Technical Operations Center (UTOC) overall to manage and perform maintenance on aircraft. "With flights from Houston to destinations around the globe, this new facility and the employees who work here will provide critical support to our worldwide operations," Greg Hart, United's executive vice president and COO, said in a statement. Their new aircraft facility will not only support the airline but provides critical maintenance to their operations and boosts the City of Houston economy by creating an estimated 200 jobs.
After United’s announcement of this new venture, Peter Ferguson, Deputy Assistant Director of Infrastructure was informed that moving the current HAS fleet vehicle maintenance facility (VMF) was required as an enabling project to the UTOC project. Moving the VMF required a detailed transition and detailed planning efforts.
Joan Moore, Fleet Division Manager, is overall in charge of maintaining and purchasing about 900 pieces of equipment for all three airports within HAS, which includes the Houston Police Department and Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF).
Moore and her team of six were some of the key drivers in completing a new 13,300-square-foot new temporary HAS fleet maintenance facility to enable the UTOC project to proceed.
“Joan and her team put this all together – the staff, the contractors, time schedules – and it has all come together very well,” Ferguson said. “It’s a very important enabling project for United Airlines.” When referencing Moore and her team’s management and execution of the work, he said they did an excellent job. Ferguson said that the new VMF, though temporary, is a huge upgrade over the aged maintenance facility it replaced, which is set for demolition later in the month. As with the old facility, this new facility will enable the repairs and service for more than 500 pieces of fleet equipment, from sedans to excavators.
The new fleet maintenance facility comes complete with new lifts and equipment along with employee friendly office and work spaces, break room, and parts room. Moore said that the physical organization of the structure is much easier for movement of vehicles and equipment and it provides a far better “flow” for staff to move and work in, especially considering the previous one.
It is a welcome addition for their contractor of choice, the City of Houston Fleet Maintenance Department, which has 24 total employees who provide the vehicle and maintenance six days a week. Their work includes preventative and corrective maintenance, state inspections and parts distribution.
Additionally, there is a new hold-down yard where all fleet equipment comes in that needs to be repaired or salvaged. In the interim, the hold-down yard is a distance away from the facility itself, but Ferguson said the advantages far outweigh any perceived disadvantages.
“For the foreseeable future,” Ferguson said, “we will operate at the temporary location, and we’re very pleased with the arrangement.”
A new, permanent, VMF to replace the temporary site is currently under schematic design by the Infrastructure Division. The design-build construction is anticipated to be solicited soon, to support phased construction completion before the end of calendar year 2019.